Skip to main content
Log in

The Right to Do Wrong: Lying to Parents Among Adolescents and Emerging Adults

Journal of Youth and Adolescence Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this study, 229 high school students and 261 college students evaluated the acceptability of lying to parents under 19 different circumstances where a person's motive for lying differed. Students also indicated the frequency with which they had lied to their parents about diverse issue such as friends, dates, and money. Results indicated that adolescents and emerging adults quite commonly lied to their parents, and that in part they framed lying to parents as a way to assert the right to autonomy. Emerging adults were less accepting of lying and reported less frequent lying, compared to adolescents. Results also showed the association of sex, personality (self-restraint and tolerance of deviance), and family environment (control and cohesion) upon adolescents' and emerging adults' acceptance of lying to parents and lying behavior.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  • Arnett, J. J. (1992). Reckless behavior in adolescence: A developmental perspective. Dev. Rev. 12: 339-373.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (1997). Young people's conceptions of the transition to adulthood. Youth Soc. 29: 1-23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (1998). Learning to stand alone: The contemporary American transition to adulthood in cultural and historical context. Hum. Dev. 41: 295-315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. Am. Psychol. 55: 469-480.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnett, J. J. (2002). Emerging Adulthood: Paths of Development From the Late Teens Through the Twenties. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Asher, H. B. (1983). Causal Modeling. Sage, Newbury Park, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T. J. (1979). Developmental changes in conformity to peers. Dev. Psychol. 15: 608-616.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, T. J. (1996). Transitions in friendship and friends' influence. In Graber, J. A., Brooks-Gunn, J., and Petersen, A. C. (eds.), Transitions Through Adolescence: Interpersonal domains and context. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biddle, B. J., and Marlin, M. M. (1987). Causality, confirmation, credulity, and structural equation modeling. Child Dev. 58, 4-17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bok, S. (1978). Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life. Vintage Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bregman, G., and Killen, M. (1999). Adolescents' and young adults' reasoning about career choice and the role of parental influence. J. Res. n Adolesc. 9: 253-275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bussey, K. (1992). Lying and truthfulness: Children's definitions, standards, and evaluative reactions. Child Dev. 63: 129-137.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cauffman, E., Feldman, S. S., Jensen, L. A., and Arnett, J. J. (2000). The (un)acceptability of violence against peers and dates among adolescents and young adults. J. Adolesc. Res. 15: 672-693.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cochran, J. K., Wood, P. B., Sellers, C. S., Wilkerson, W., and Chamlin, M. B. (1998). Academic dishonesty and low self-control: An empirical test of a general theory of crime. Deviant Behav.: Interdiscip. J. 19: 227-255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, S. F., Grover, C. A., Becker, A. H., and McGregor, L. N. (1992). Academic dishonesty: Prevalence, determinants, techniques, and punishments. Teach. Psychol. 19: 16-20.

    Google Scholar 

  • DePaulo, B. M., Kashy, D. A., Kirkendol, S. E., Wyer, M. M., and Epstein, J. A. (1996). Lying in everyday life. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 70: 979-995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dornbusch, S. M., Carlsmith, J. M., Bushwall, P. L., Ritter, P. L., Leiderman, P. H., Hastorf, A. H., and Gross, R. T. (1985). Single parents, extended households, and the control of adolescents. Child Dev. 56: 326-341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dornbusch, S. M., Ritter, P. L., Mont-Reynaud, R., and Chen, Z. (1990). Family decision-making and academic perfromance in diverse high school populations. J. Adolesc. Res. 5: 143-160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dryfoos, J. (1990). Adolescents at Risk. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, S. S., Cauffman, E., Jensen, L. A., and Arnett, J. J. (2000). The (un)acceptability of betrayal: A study of late adolescents' evaluations of sexual betrayal by a romantic partner and betrayal of friend's confidence. J. Youth Adolesc. 29: 499-523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feldman, S. S., and Weinberger, D. A. (1994). Self-restraint as a mediator of family influences on boys' delinquent behavior: A longitudinal study. Child Dev. 65: 195-211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grotevant, H. D., and Cooper, C. R. (1988). The role of family experience in career exploration: A lifespan perspective. In Baltes, P. B., Featherman, D. L., and Lerner, R. M. (eds.), Life Span Development and Behavior. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 331-358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grusec, J., and Goodnow, J. (1994). Impact of parental discipline methods on the child's internalization of values: A reconceptualization of current points of view. Dev. Psychol. 30: 4-19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, L. A. (1996). Coding manual: Ethics of autonomy, community, and divinity. In Different Habits, Different Hearts: Orthodoxy and Progressivism in the United States and India. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Chicago.

  • Jensen, L. A., Arnett, J. J., Feldman, S. S., and Cauffman, E. (2002). It's wrong, but everybody does it: Academic dishonesty among high school and college students. Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 27: 209-228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jessor, R., and Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development. Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kashy, D. A., and DePaulo, B. M. (1996). Who lies? J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 70: 1037-1051.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keltikangas-Jarvinen, L., and Lindeman, M. (1997). Evaluations of theft, lying, and fighting in adolescence. J. Youth Adolesc. 26: 467-483.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. (1981). The Philosophy of Moral Development. Harper & Row, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohlberg, L. (1984). The Psychology of Moral Development. Harper & Row, San Francisco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, K., and Ross, H. J. (1997). The concept of lying in adolescents and young adults: Testing Sweetzer's folkloristic model. Merrill-Palmer Q. 43: 255-270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindskold, S., and Waters, P. S. (1983). Categories for acceptability of lies. J. Soc. Psychol. 120: 129-136.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCord, J. (1990). Problem behaviors. In Feldman, S. S., and Elliott, G. (eds.), At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 414-430.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millar, K. U., and Tesser, A. (1987). Deceptive behavior in social relationships: A consequence of violated expectations. J. Psychol. 122: 263-273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moos, R., and Moos, B. (1974). Family Environment Scale (FES). Consulting Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA.

    Google Scholar 

  • O'Connor, T. G., Allen, J. P., Bell, K. L., and Hauser, S. T. (1996). Adolescent–parent relationships and leaving home in young adulthood. New Dir. Child Dev. 71: 39-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Offer, D. (1969). The Psychological World of the Teenager. Basic Books, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C. C. (1995). The role of perceived intention to deceive in children's and adult's concepts of lying. Br. J. Dev. Psychol. 13: 237-260.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, C. C., Peterson, J. L., and Seeto, D. (1983). Developmental changes in ideas about lying. Child Dev. 54: 1529-1535.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piaget, J. (1932/1965). The Moral Judgment of the Child. The Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roth, N. L., and McCabe, D. L. (1995). Communication strategies for addressing academic dishonesty. J. Coll. Stud. Dev. 36: 531-541.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smetana, J. G. (1988). Conceptions of self and social conventions: Adolescents' and parents' reasoning about hypothetical and actual family conflicts. In Gunner, M. R., and Collins, W. A. (eds.), Minnesota Symposium on Developmental Psychology (Vol. 21). Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ, pp. 79-122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smetana, J. G. (1989). Adolescents' and parents' reasoning about actual family conflict. Child Dev. 60: 1052-1067.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smetana, J. G., and Asquith, P. (1994). Adolescents' and parents' conceptions of parental authority and adolescent autonomy. Child Dev. 65: 1147-1162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (1986). Lying as a problem behavior in children: A review. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 6: 267-289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stouthamer-Loeber, M., and Loeber, R. (1986). Boys who lie. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 14: 551-564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickhartz, A. F., and Burton, R. V. (1990). Lies and truth: A study of the development of the concept. Child Dev. 61: 211-220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turiel, E. (1983). The Development of Social Knowledge: Morality and Convention. Cambridge University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weinberger, D. A. (1997). Distress and self-restraint as measures of adjustment across the life span: Confirmatory factor analyses in clinical and nonclinical samples. Psychol. Assess. 9: 132-135.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jensen, L.A., Arnett, J.J., Feldman, S.S. et al. The Right to Do Wrong: Lying to Parents Among Adolescents and Emerging Adults. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 33, 101–112 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOYO.0000013422.48100.5a

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOYO.0000013422.48100.5a

Navigation